“Developing an animal model that shares these features with human Down Syndrome will allow us to test therapeutics more efficiently, with higher odds of developing ones that can work in people.”

John Hopkins physiologist Roger Reeves, describing what is believed to be the first genetically engineered rat model of Down syndrome. The work, reported in The American Journal of Human Genetics, was conducted by his team at Johns Hopkins in collaboration with researchers at Tottori University in Japan. “There is already progress in developing pharmaceuticals that help the cerebellum grow in mice,” says Reeves. “If we eventually translate that into medicines for humans, we may be able to help people with Down syndrome improve their learning and memory skills.”